K’Nex Super Mario Mini Figures Series 2 Shy Guy Review

First let me say, I apologize for the relative lack of updates around here in the past few weeks, but hopefully that drought is over. I have quite a few reviews planned for the next few days and the 5th Annual 31 Days of Halloween is set to start in less than a week. In the interim, I will be looking at a lot of random things including quite a few of these K’Nex Mario Mini Figures. It’s part of our MiniFig Initiative.

This is a new series of Mario Mini Figures, technically different than the first series I reviewed way back when. There was another series before this one, but it seems with Series 2 these things have finally gotten widespread distribution. K’Nex has also gotten their act together a bit and is offering more than just a handful of figures packed in with dozens of Marios.

While I have the entire series, I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way now. Shy Guy is my favorite. I’m not sure why I’ve always liked the Shy Guys, but they just appeal to me for some reason. They’re just so different than anything else in the already diverse Mario world. I’m sure part of that comes from them technically being leftovers from Doki Doki Panic, but either way K’Nex has finally decided to give the Shy Guy a chance to shine in these new blind bag packs.

Packaging:
These are your standard blind bag style figures. You can try and feel around and figure out who is who, but K’Nex has made this a bit difficult. Thankfully, there’s a code on each figure which is pretty easy to crack.

The front of the package shows off the figures in the series. There’s no secret characters this time around.

The back has the codes and a bunch of legal jargin. Thankfully the ratios are pretty good, as opposed to a few years ago when Bowser was packed ONE per entire case.

Inside is a mummified Shy Guy and an instruction sheet.

Sculpt:
Once you crack this bad boy open, you actually have to assemble the Shy Guy. Because he’s not a standard K’Nex “Lego” style figure, I was a bit surprised that you had to do this. It works well enough, though.

He actually has quite a few pieces, but he pops together easy enough. Although of all the K’Nex Mario figures, Shy Guy is probably the hardest to assemble, just because of his arms. They’re not very hard, but they are the hardest overall.

The sculpt isn’t overly complex, but it’s perfect. Literally perfect. The only thing that makes this figure any different from the video game version is the trademark stamp on the back.

I think that’s a big part of the reason that I love this guy so much. Some of K’Nex’s other efforts haven’t been as strong, but the Shy Guy is amazing.

He seems to be pretty good scale with the rest of the figures as well. Again, this is not something that K’Nex has necessarily nailed overall, so it’s nice to know that Shy Guy is one of their better efforts. He’s just tiny and awesome.

Paint:
The paint work isn’t all that much on the figure, but there’s more here than you might expect. His mask, belt and shoes have all been painted. There’s a tad bit of slop on the shoes, but it’s not something any normal person would be concerned with.

Articulation:
While the Shy Guy only has two areas of articulation, it’s just about all you could ask for. He’s not Spider-man.

He has cuts at both arms, with full 360 degree rotation.

As well as a swivel waist. It’s very minimal in the grand scheme of things and yet, it’s all the Shy Guy needs. It’s the perfect amount of articulation for this figure. Proof that not every figure needs to be super articulated.

Accessories:
He comes with nothing. If I had one critique of these K’Nex mini figures, it’s that they could include an accessory.

Value:
At $3, these are some of the cheapest figures around these days. I’ve noticed myself moving more and more towards mini figures, because you can get them for a few bucks. I mentioned in another review that this is the one area of the toy aisle that has seen growth in the past few years and it very well may be the future of toys as we know them. Thankfully, this is a very strong effort and while I already have a couple of Shy Guys… I need more. ARMY BUILDING!

Did I just give the Shy Guy the coveted 10 out of 10 score? Yes, yes I did. I freaking love this guy and in my mind, he’s perfect. Is it a relatively easy character to capture? Absolutely. Did K’Nex do anything out of the ordinary to make this guy? Nope. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s plastic perfection.

I gave Mario & Luigi a MUCH lower score a year ago, so this is definitely a case where K’Nex have upped their game.

2 Responses to K’Nex Super Mario Mini Figures Series 2 Shy Guy Review

K’Nex Mario stuff has come quite a ways. We’ve gotten a lot of enemy characters in just the past year. Of course, many are in the big sets, but some are now appearing in these newest blind bags. Koopa Troops, Koopa Paratroopas, Goombas, Cheep Cheeps, Dry Bones…

We got Wario and Princess Daisy, which surprised me when I found out about them. Hopefully Waluigi will be coming next. I’d also love to see Lakitu, Spiny, Buzzy Beetles, or even the Koopalings somehow.

Snifits in both Gray and Pink…and to go along with the Red Shy Guys we need Pink Shy Guys.